Tuyen's Blog

Posts for Tag: anthony randolph

NBA Draft today!

NBA Draft is today. Interesting draft for the Warriors in that it's the first draft with the new brain trust completely in place - Lacob, West and Myers. With two first rounders and two second rounders, the Warriors have options. Their biggest need is SF and there are rumors that they are looking to trade their picks for a veteran SF. Definitely a good deal if they can swing a Rudy Gay or Andre Iguodala. The Wilson Chandler rumors are just crazy talk...

But let's say they do keep the picks, who to get? Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Harrison Barnes are the top two SF's in this class and either one would make an immediate impact. But since they both look likely to be off the board at #7, the most likely option is a project big man in Drummond or there has been talk of trading down and getting Terrence Ross. Another possibility is Dion Waiters who Jerry West is very high on. Problem there is that you would most likely have to slide Klay Thompson over to SF which is not his natural position. Regardless of who they choose, this seems to be a deep draft so whoever they get won't be a totally dud. They may not a future all-star but they'll get a nice serviceable player. But then again, it could be another Anthony Randolph, as well.

Warriors' David Lee is cleared to play... FINALLY!

Golden State forward David Lee has flown to Minneapolis and will meet the Warriors there for a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
via sports.yahoo.com

This couldn't have come any sooner. With David Lee out, the Warriors were worst off than they were last year and it showed. Another close defeat to the Grizzlies makes the losing streak now five. Think of the 2009-2010 Warriors minus Turiaf, Randolph and Azubuike. Lee won't make an immediate impact but you need to start somewhere.

Warriors get David Lee from Knicks

So this was announced yesterday. Overall, it's a net positive for the Warriors. They give up some good role players in Turiaf and Azubuike and one potential star in Randolph. However, Turiaf has most likely reached his ceiling (being a good back-up center), Azubuike is coming off a pretty horrific knee injury, and Randolph has a lot of maturing to do before he can reach his full potential (which is not a guarantee). No one would ever mistake David Lee for an impact star player. He puts big numbers up on a bad team but last time I checked, the Warriors were not a great team. Lee will get his numbers but let's just hope that a few extra wins come along with them.

NBA Draft

I spent most of the day dealing with work and iPhone 4 pick up so didn't have much time to do my usual NBA Draft research. This year's draft seemed a little ho-hum. Besides Wall and Turner, there wasn't much in terms of sure fire pro talent. Favors and Cousins have potential to be great but also could turn out to be the next Tyrus Thomas and Eddy Curry. Wesley Johnson is somewhere between Rudy Gay and Corey Brewer. In other words, either slightly above or slightly below average.

As for the Warriors' pick, Ekpe Udoh at #6, I can't really get too excited one way or the other. There's no one picked after him I thought was better and he does fill very specific needs - defense, rebounding and shot blocking. He won't be asked to score much (which he can't) and can learn behind Randolph and Wright. In the end he was a safe pick in a weak draft with no real upside but no big downside either. The W's weren't going to find salvation in the draft any way. The bigger impact will be when the team is sold to a better owner who has a different philosophy than current management's "break-even" mind set.

Stephen Jackson trade in more detail ... I actually think both teams lost

I've been busy at work but also haven't had time to digest the Stephen Jackson trade to Charlotte from this morning. Basically, I don't think there were any winners in the deal. Of course, in the short term, Stephen gets out of a very dysfunctional situation and the Warriors have the cloud of poor team chemistry removed. However, take a step back and you'll notice that both teams lose out.

For Charlotte, they'll get an indiscriminate scorer who will work Larry Brown's every last nerve. How many walk up brick three's do you think Larry will take before he says enough? Also, Charlotte has no clear leaders that can stand up to Jackson. When he was in San Antonio, it was clear that he was a role player on a team with superstars. In Charlotte, he'll be one of the go-to guys along with Gerald Wallace (who ironically plays the same position ... no butting heads, I'm sure) along with a bunch of young players who he can "influence". For the Warriors, they're basically getting salary relief but not soon enough to make a big difference in the 2010 free agent class. Bell's $5.3M contract ends this year but Radmanovic's $13.3M (over next two years) contract doesn't expire until 2011. Adding insult to injury (pun intended), Bell, who is a good defender and decent 3 point shooter, is playing with a nagging wrist injury. And don't get me started about how useless Radmanovic is.

All in all, something had to be done. I don't know if the Warriors get better or worse because of this trade but if nothing else, it could mean more minutes for Morrow and Randolph. I'd rather see them play and improve than watching an aging B+ player pollute the minds of a young team.